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    Middle East Cafe

    4.8 (49 reviews)
    Closed 11:00 am - 9:00 pm

    Middle East Cafe Photos

    MIDDLE EAST CAFE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Outdoor seating

    Recommended Reviews - Middle East Cafe

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    Nov 2025 menu 1/2
    Dianna H.

    We stopped by Middle East Cafe for a post-hike meal and enjoyed our food, especially the lamb shank! It wasn't that crowded when we came by Sunday evening around 5:30 pm. We ordered at the counter and got a number for our food. They have both indoor and patio seating, but it was a bit chilly outside even with the heat lamps so we decided to sit inside. We shared an order of falafel ($7 for 3) as our appetizer. One friend ordered the chicken wrap ($17), and I shared the koobideh plate ($21) and the lamb shank with baghali polo ($24) with another friend. First thing we noticed when the food came out was the portions were generous. We all struggled unsuccessfully to finish the food and I ended up taking some of the lamb and koobideh home. The best dish by far was the lamb shank, imo. It was fall of the bone tender and incredibly flavorful. I wasn't a huge fan of the baghali polo (made with basmati rice) that it came with, as it's cooked with dill which I usually don't like, but it was nice to have rice to eat with the lamb shank. The koobideh i.e. ground beef/lamb skewers were also very tasty. Normally it comes with basmati rice on the side, but since we were already getting rice with the lamb shank, we subbed in lavash bread, which is like a large thin sheet of flat bread. We weren't sure how to eat it but ended up breaking off pieces of bread and wrapping it around the meat. It's definitely harder to eat than rice as you have to use your hands, but it was nice to try something different. Most underwhelming for us was the falafel, which I found dry and bland. Would skip next time. My friend enjoyed his chicken wrap but found it a bit bland. He was dumping hot sauce on it like crazy for more flavor. Don't forget to head next door after your meal for some delicious baklava and Turkish delight!

    View of inside dining area.
    Victor G.

    Middle East Cafe opened in El Patio's space a few months ago. Decor changed. Patio/garden dining available. Heat lamps provided. Offerings (Persian): kabobs, stews, specials, rice plates, sides, wraps, drinks, desserts... Drill: order, pay at counter, choose dining area, food brought quickly to table ( 5ish minutes). Bites:Lamb Shank+Baghali Pollo (Fava bean rice)23 -most diners choose patio, fills up fast. -lamb shank was semi-dry, pre-cooked, ready to serve. Soaking it in its broth made lamb tender & juicy again. Lamb prepped with onions, cinnamon, salt & pepper, turmeric. Baghali Pollo was plentiful. Flavas aromatic. Made with dry dill, fava beans, basmatic rice, oil, saffron. Best eaten with lamb, cuts the greasiness, soaks up flavas from broth. 4.5 stars: Worthy. Quality: very good Quantity: reasonable. Many Persian options. Repeatable.

    Koobideh plate
    Austin W.

    My friends and I stopped by Middle East Cafe on a Tuesday evening for dinner and we had a fantastic meal. My wife and I shared the koobideh plate -- opting for the zereshk polo instead of regular rice, along with a side of maast moosir and some lavash. The skewers of ground beef and lamb were juicy, tender, and flavorful. I really enjoyed the smoky flavor of the grilled meat. Paired with the fluffy rice, a dollop of maast moosir, and some slivered raw onions, it's *chef-kiss* the perfect bite of food. At the table, there's also a shaker of sumac available if you want another layer of flavor. Whenever I visit SoCal, Raffi's is always one of the spots I hit up if I'm craving Persian food and am in the Glendale area. I'm honestly beyond thrilled to have a Persian place with such delicious food available here in East Bay. The folks working here couldn't be nicer and I can't wait to stop by again. Be sure to check out the beautiful back patio if you're dining in -- you won't regret it.

    Tea
    Jude D.

    This is a cute little spot next to the middle eastern market on San Pablo Ave. The dolmas were delicious and the chicken noodle soup was rich, salty and satisfying. There was also live music which was lovely.

    Baarg Soltani plate
    Yan X.

    We often shop at the store next door and decided to give the cafe a try. We shared Baarg & Soltani plate with garlic yogurt and Persian tea. Portion is big and overall pretty delicious. Baarg could use more spice though. I really like the fact that the cafe showed how food was cooked in Iran in their large TV.

    Deepak G.

    Amazing food with large portions. The place is really small but nice with lots of food options. Service is also great.

    Lunch special: chicken and koobideh combo
    Grachelle L.

    This place has become my favorite restaurant. Staff is great and the food is insanely good. Back patio is super cute, perfect for a party. Live music on Fridays! Cant wait to come back!

    Koobideh plate
    New W.

    I love stopping by Middle East Market to grab ingredients for cooking. Now they've opened Middle East Cafe right next door, and it's even better! The koobideh plate was perfectly seasoned and juicy, and the cocktail was surprisingly good--fresh and balanced. The patio is such a relaxing spot to enjoy a meal or drink. Great vibes, great food, and super friendly service. Highly recommend checking it out.

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    Amazing food! Every dish was incredibly good. I cannot wait to go back, and I live in LA.

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    Ask the Community - Middle East Cafe

    Cal Gyros Mediterranean - Lamb and Beef Gyros Sandwich via Uber Eats. $14.95. Slow-cooked, thin-sliced, marinated lamb and beef gyros.

    Cal Gyros Mediterranean

    (196 reviews)

    $

    Telegraph Ave

    I discovered "Cal Gyros Mediterranean Cuisine" on Uber Eats. My wife and I were in North Oakland,…read morenear Berkeley, and wanted food delivered for a late-night dinner. Cal Gyros was featured near the top of the app, under the section "Healthy options to explore," based on our location and what was open at the time (a Thursday at 10:09pm). We were hungry and the menu and pictures of the food looked good enough to me. I ordered the following for us (descriptions from menu): * Lamb and Beef Gyros Sandwich ($14.95) - slow-cooked, thin-sliced, marinated lamb and beef gyros * Chicken Gyros Sandwich ($14.95) - slow-cooked, thin-sliced, marinated chicken * Cacik Appetizer ($8.95) - homemade yogurt with diced cucumbers, oregano, fresh dill and a hint of garlic After the cost of food ($38.85), I paid a $6.97 service fee, $3.99 tax, $2.00 for California driver benefits, and a $7.62 tip. The $0.99 delivery fee was waived because of a promotion. The total cost was $59.43. Roughly a third of that was due to Uber Eats. There were multiple delays. It took about an hour for the food to be delivered. To get to us from Cal Gyros was an 11-minute drive under usual traffic. I think the delay was with the restaurant and not caused by the driver because I saw the driver had to wait at the restaurant for an extended period of time. I know the driver has nothing to do with Cal Gyros, the business, but I just want to mention here that he (Axel) was super nice when handing off the order to me outside. As for the food itself, it was disappointing. The sandwiches (wraps) were filling, but that was about it. The quality of the ingredients wasn't great, especially the pita. The pita for the wraps was thin, hard, and bland. At least they were grilled. The cacik also came with pita. There were five, maybe six, Kronos-brand pita triangles in a Kronos bag. I think that pita may have been grilled too; it was hard for me to tell. The lamb, beef, and chicken gyros were flavorful enough, but they were far from the best gyros I've had from many similar hole-in-the-wall joints over the years. The Chicken Gyros Sandwich was very watery and messy to eat. The Lamb and Beef Gyros Sandwich was definitely the better of the two. I don't remember the other ingredients inside the wraps except for lettuce and perhaps onion and tomato. The cacik was fine. Cacik is the Turkish version of Greek tzatziki. Cal Gyro's cacik was cold, creamy, and refreshing. It was noticeably stronger tasting and more sour than tzatziki. Cal Gyros is located at Durant Center, colloquially referred to as the "Asian Ghetto," just south of UC Berkeley's main campus and surrounded by many of the school's buildings. It's one of several small restaurants, most of which are Asian, located in a U-shaped building with communal outdoor picnic-table seating in the middle. Some of the restaurants have their own dedicated seating inside, including Cal Gyros. The storefront sign says: "Best California Gyros." This place is open until 2am daily, so that's a plus.

    The food was horrendous. I ordered a "lamb pizza" which took over ten minutes to make. The meat was…read morestale and not fresh. My stomach started hurting after eating it so I couldn't even finish the food I ordered. This is probably the worst restaurant I've tried in Berkeley so far. For how long I waited, the food doesn't match the time it took to make the food. It definitely wasn't worth $15. The lady was gracious enough to offer free salad as compensation for the long wait, but the wilted salad looked unappealing. I was worried that the salad would make me even more sick so I didn't touch it. For a restaurant charging $15 for a meal, it should at least be safe to eat. I'm very disappointed and definitely won't be coming back.

    Lulu’s Little Kitchen - Lamb Bowl ($19)

    Lulu’s Little Kitchen

    (201 reviews)

    Lulu is one of my absolute favorite brunch spots!!! I came here for my birthday last year and fell…read morein love with their shukaquiles and other beautifully presented dishes! Gorgeous, fresh, and delicious! Everything I've tried on the menu is so good! I've tried their baklava french toast, turkish eggs, shukaquiles, loaded toum fries with braised lamb, habi-bimbap bowl, rose brûlée cappuccino, and baklava brûlée cappuccino. We tried the loaded toum fries recently and the lamb was so tender; all the ingredients worked so well together!!! It was also our first time having the habi-bimbap bowl and I love all the fresh and vibrant ingredients that were being incorporated with the perfectly cooked and seasoned chicken thighs! They are currently closed until Valentine's Day to rebrand and make adjustments and transition to "Lulu's Little Kitchen". Hoping some of these items will stay on the menu, but can't wait to see what amazing dishes Chef Mona Leena has in store!

    Kitchen Little…read more Formerly "Lulu on Solano," they temporarily closed in late January of this year to revamp from a full-service Palestinian-meets-Cali brunch and dinner joint into a more fast-casual** café that serves unique coffee creations, as well as a full menu of Palestinian-inspired wraps, bowls, and salads. The Good: * Friendly service at the counter and at the table, but there were some issues (see below). * Halal (حلال) *Veg-head friendly and gluten-free options are available * Their toum (garlic sauce) will surely keep the vampires at bay. * My Lamb Bowl was delicious and all the veggies tasted super fresh. *We came here to try their viral Knafeh Pancake and it did not disappoint. We were a little hesitant at the $20 price tag, but it was 100% worth it. Subtly sweet with rose water syrup and crunchy from the ghee toasted kataifi combined with the cheese and pancake bottom made this an irresistible treat. The Meh: * It's a busy place, and the interior only holds maybe twenty people at a time, so be prepared to wait to dine in. * Carissa felt like her chicken could've been on the grill for maybe an extra minute or so--not that it was undercooked, but it just needed a touch more texture. * Free street parking only, which can be difficult, but not impossible to find during busier days/times. The Ugly: * I realize they just reopened and might still be working out the kinks, but the staff bringing out the food seemed confused about which orders went where, despite a huge table number we were assigned, and my bowl was brought out a good ten minutes before Carissa's was--and that includes a snafu where they tried to bring out the same bowl (mine) twice! Conclusion: Overall, it was a tasty bite and well worth the schlep up from the South Bay to Albany. We're definitely bringing my sister the next time she visits. **Order at the counter, and food is brought out to your table.

    Zaytoon Mediterranean Restaurant & Bar - Chicken shawarma: juicy tasty and generous portions.

    Zaytoon Mediterranean Restaurant & Bar

    (827 reviews)

    $$

    We came back here and had wraps for dinner last night. My husband loves their kefta wrap. There's…read moretons of meat in it and a side salad or fries. I tried their falafel wrap for the first time and I was delighted. It was so tasty with tons of sauce and veggies. I couldn't stop eating it. The salad is healthy but kind of bland. Definitely returning to have more falafel wraps. Our waitress was nice and this restaurant is always a relaxing place to eat.

    My family and I came here for dinner on Saturday night. We've been to Zaytoon a few times. It's…read morealways been okay. Not the best, but pretty good. Service was fine in the beginning. Nothing crazy. But then my daughter noticed that the chicken in her Fattoush salad was a bit raw in the middle. She cut open all the pieces she still had on her plate, and a couple were the same. We called the server over and informed her that the chicken was undercooked. She took the salad to the kitchen to fix the problem. A couple of minutes later, she came back with her salad and said her chicken would be done in a bit. I think we were in shock. Never in my 57 years of life/30 years in the food industry have I ever seen a restaurant take the food off a plate that had bites taken out of it, salad that had been halfway consumed, PUT THE CHICKEN BACK ON THE GRILL, AND RE-SERVED THE SALAD TO THE CUSTOMER. We didn't quite know what to do. When she came back with the recooked chicken, we knew it was the same pieces because they were all cut in half as before. In hindsight, should we have called over the manager? Probably. He probably would have had the salad redone, which would have taken more time than we had. Did it take away the fact that they recooked half-eaten chicken on the grill and re-served the same salad? No. This is clearly a major health code violation. Then, when they cleared our plates, the server said to us, "You didn't want dessert, did you?" That was the icing on the un-ordered cake for us. So disappointing. Food was pretty tasteless, and service was... very odd. I think we're done with Zaytoon.

    Rojbas Grill - Combo Platter

    Rojbas Grill

    (339 reviews)

    $$

    Downtown Berkeley

    came across this place recently and seeing "kurdish" on the sign honestly meant a lot to me…read more food was fresh and tasty, burhan was very welcoming, and the service was fast and friendly. glad to meet them. i'll definitely be back.

    Rojbas Grill is a corner café on university Avenue in the heart of Berkeley…read more Let's just get this out of the way, parking is absolutely a challenge. The restaurant is fairly small with probably about a half a dozen tables, etc. The owner was very polite, and thankfully very patient with us for a friends lunch. We originally had plans for another restaurant, but this location, etc. worked out. Everyone spent quite a bit of time catching up, and we were made to feel at home. I ordered a side of fries for a shareable at the table. I found the fries to be very underwhelming and needed more seasoning and considering that it's seven dollars for a side of fries the serving was pretty mediocre. I ordered the lamb/beef gyro plate. The side salad was very fresh and had a light vinaigrette dressing. I would have liked for the dressing to be more of an actual vinaigrette flavor. The rice was light and fluffy, but again, lacked seasoning/flavor. The side of yogurt sauce, was tasty, but did not hit the spot. Why? Because it really lacked the flavors. Notice a theme? I will say, the meat was tender, and it had a really nice flavor to it. It was delicious enough that it was very difficult to differentiate between a lamb flavor versus a beef flavor. It all tasted good together. The soft drinks are rather pricey. It was around $3.50 for a bottled Coke. Yikes! When we were done with our meal, we were served complementary hot tea. It was a nice touch.

    Middle East Market - Chicken Thigh Kabob

    Middle East Market

    (437 reviews)

    $$

    West Berkeley

    I stepped in to grab food before realizing there was a separate cafe next door…read more Decided to come back after dinner next door to pick up some dessert and I'm so glad I did! I got an assortment of Turkish delight and some pistachio baklava ($2.99). The Turkish delight is sold by weight across all the varieties and goes for $16.99/lb. The guy behind the counter was super friendly and offered us a sample of one of the flavors to try which I thought was a nice gesture. Everything looked so good, so we picked a couple different pieces of Turkish delight to try. To my surprise, my favorite ended up being the saffron, though rose petal with pomegranate and sour cherry with pastachio were close seconds. I didn't like the coconut or the chocolate one that much, so reminder to myself to skip those next time. After picking up the dessert, I did a quick circle around the store to see what they had. It's not a big store but they manage to cram a lot of stuff into the limited space!

    I usually stop by either the Middle East Market or its sister spot, the Middle East Café, during my…read moreweekly laundromat run down the block. The café bartenders are always kind -- once they even let me use the bathroom before I realized the laundromat had one. I've ordered a beer while waiting for my clothes to dry and was welcomed to sit with my dog on the back patio. The atmosphere is warm and accommodating. The market itself is a treasure trove: shelves filled with Middle Eastern dry goods, nuts, dried fruits, spices, blends, and condiments you can't find anywhere else. Kofta, shish kebab, falafel, sumac, garam masala -- it's all here. They also carry pita, lavash, labna, and other breads and yogurts that make cooking from scratch feel like heaven. Bonus points for the large assortments of delicious house made baklavas! Even without a full kitchen, the prepared foods are excellent. I ordered falafel, eggplant dip, hummus, and cucumber salad from the to‑go counter -- a mini feast for $26 that didn't disappoint. **Verdict:** Courteous service, respectful staff, and a fantastic selection. Whether you're cooking at home or grabbing a bite, this place is a gem. Highly recommended.

    La Mediterranee - Lamb Shawarma over rice

    La Mediterranee

    (1.5k reviews)

    $$

    Elmwood

    This review is based on an order for delivery. We ordered food for 12 people and all of the food…read morewas good. The rice was a little small for 12 servings, but all of it was good and went over well for our group. The delivery was on time and communicated for delivery. My favorite was the salmon skewers and the spinach filo, a lot of flavor and texture! So good. This was my first time eating from here, but I would definitely return again!

    I ordered the Salmon Kebab Dinner and this might officially be my new go-to spot for Mediterranean…read morefood. The salmon was cooked perfectly -- tender, flavorful, and not dry at all. The squeeze of lemon on top made it taste even zestier and really brought everything together. My only tiny suggestion would be to add more lemon. Lemon is relatively inexpensive, so an extra slice (or one thick wedge, like a generous 1/4 of a lemon) would really elevate it even more. The Armenian potato salad was AMAZING. I honestly prefer it over any traditional potato salad I've had. It was fresh, well-seasoned, and had so much flavor. The Rice Pilaf was also delicious -- I'm not sure what all the ingredients were, but every bite had great texture and seasoning. You can tell care goes into it. The hummus was smooth, creamy, and full of flavor. I would've loved one more piece of pita bread to go with it, but what they provided was still really good. Overall, I rarely give perfect reviews, but this is easily a 4.5 out of 5 for me. Since Yelp doesn't allow half stars, they're getting the full five. Just a couple small improvements and it would be flawless. Definitely coming back.

    Saffron Kitchen - Spinach Qurma

    Saffron Kitchen

    (176 reviews)

    $$

    Rockridge, North Oakland

    This was my first time ever eating at this restaurant and from once a separate told us we got there…read morejust in time. We had ourselves an early dinner around 3 PM and he said the restaurant had just cleared out. Apparently they were packed for lunch!! I've never had a style of food before so I asked my boyfriend what I should order since he likes the style. He actually ordered me a chicken curry dish and himself another meat dish, but I can't remember what it was called. Both items as well as appetizer it was delicious! I should've taken a picture of the items we ordered for the appetizer since it was a three portion combo plate, but the pictures are below! Ambience was very relaxed and I really like how there was a half steps down into a little patio area so it seemed like you were almost underground, but you could see out. It was cute watching people walk their dogs and families ride their bike bikes. I will definitely want to come back here and get and buy more dishes!

    We ordered a bunch of food to be delivered…read more Food arrived quite warm, however, - the potato bolanis did not travel well. The bola I had become soggy and the stuffing was spilling out - so hard to eat. - the chicken kabob was delicious - the filet mignon kabobs were tough and needed a knife - the kohbideh kabobs had disintegrated but were tasty - the Baba Ganoush portion seemed small for its price $12.50 - three tiny sauce containers for all this food, left us wanting! There was plenty of rice and bread. This was our first time order. Will try dining-in next time.

    Middle East Cafe - persian - Updated May 2026

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